Last year was the first time. Very simple, date, location, fish caught/size and lure/s. I might also add a note about weather/conditions.

I've been keeping a fishing log in Excel for years.  I find it helps to go back and look at what areas produced at certain times of year and conditions.  I keep this for fresh and saltwater fishing and I find that it has been helpful since I tend to forget things over time.

The handiest thing I have found for keeping a ledger is to carry a little digital recorder. I note the fish I catch, what I catch them on, weather and water conditions, what didn't work, etc.  Then when I get home I put the info I want to keep into a ledger. I used to keep everything in my computer, but I ended up losing a lot of info when my computer died and the info was unrecoverable. Call me old fashion, but I have never had a paper ledger "crash".

On 2/14/2024 at 5:17 AM, A-Jay said:

I kept fishing logs for years . . .

Can't say for sure if they ever helped me catch more or bigger fish because every day is different.

So old data seems less useful.

 

I tried keeping logs back in the 80's. For me, at best, it's interesting to recollect what I was doing in the past. I think there so much more to it than a handful of data points that it's not really all that relevant to day to day conditions. Way too many variables in effect.

 

• Environmental Conditions
  • Water temperature
  • Air temperature
  • Clear vs. Cloudy
  • Time of year
  • Time of day
  • Moon phase
  • Water level
  • Water visibility
  • Conditions affecting water visibility
  • Short term water level fluctuations
  • Long term water level fluctuations
  • Current wind speed and direction
  • Recent wind conditions/patterns
  • Barometric pressure
  • Fishing pressure
  • Food source conditions
• Baits used:
  • Brand
  • Type
  • Size
  • Color
• Rigging
  • Hook type
  • Hook size
  • Line type
  • Line size
• Technique
• Retrieve speed/details

What does my Color C-lector say?

 

   "Pop"

 

I know there are folks that love compiling and analyzing fishing data. To each their own and that may be what some folks specifically enjoy about the sport, but as much as I love a good spreadsheet, that's not how I want to approach fishing. 

 

On 2/17/2024 at 2:24 PM, WRB said:

Now I simply follow the seasonal periods and recall what and where I catch.

 

That's my idea of how I prefer to do it these days.

I don't weight them or even take pictures of the fish I catch.

All that data collection would make fishing feel like my own job.